Would you like to join a kindness and gratitude thread?

Celieanne86 This must have been very frightening for you but it sounds as though you had very good care from the NHS.
Your grandaughter sounds lovely too. I wish you well for a complete recovery.

I feel blessed and thankful to friends who remembered the third anniversary of my husband’s death, a few days ago. Their texts, cards, emails really comforted me during this period

I’m grateful to cyber friends on this forum for sharing ideas and occasionally making me lol.

Thank you for your kind words Crossstitchfan.

It happened over 50 years ago when I was still in my early twenties and TBH I don't think about it very often. It was just that the posts about picking up purses rekindled the memory. I don't think I would have handled the situation with the woman in the same way had it happened more recently.

I am thankful and grateful to the wonderful people who have just cared for me following a major health scare. Starting with the medic alert team who answered my frantic call for help as I had chest pains so bad I couldn’t breath, I passed out but they stayed with me while waiting for an emergency paramedic team, I’ve been told it took 17 minutes but all knew was a young man was here in my living room holding my hand and talking to while a paramedic was sticking pads all over my body and connecting me to a machine then it was ambulance blue lights and siren and kind and gentle words not to worry I was going to be ok I was too young to die, I’m 88 so I think they were being optimistic. On arrival at the hospital to the triage nurse who came in the ambulance and put me on red alert, to the paramedics who never left me, to the nurses who had me connected up to various machines within minutes and to the doctor who talked to me and explained everything that was happening. To all the medical staff, yes even the lovely nurse who took the dreaded blood tests and left hardly a mark, and to the chest x Ray team who showed me pictures of my silly old heart which had given me such a scare. To the student nurse who made me a very welcome cup of tea and biscuits and made sure I was comfortable and loaned me her phone so I could speak to me son. To everyone who looked after me and reassured me I had not had a heart attack but rather an infection which caused fluid round my heart and I had an extra heart beat which was going to be investigated. I was allowed home after 24 hours with antibiotics and instructions to take it easy and follow up appointments.
Finally my grandaughter who never left me once I was discharged and bought my 9 months old great grandson to entertain me.
How do I thank all these wonderful people who have gone above and beyond to care for me, I am truly grateful for the NHS and the tired and overworked staff who treated me like a queen. So thank you and to Gransnet for sorting out my password problem or I could not have written all this.

Magenta8, I was applied by the treatment you received from that dreadful woman. In one way, I wish you had been dishonest because she certainly didn’t deserve to get her purse back. She was/is a despicable bi*ch.
I can’t understand why you feel bad, other than shock from the treatment you received. You absolutely did nothing wrong. I am a great believer in Karma, so hopefully she’ll get her just reward. You can be glad you are a decent person and she most certainly is not! Forget the daft old bat and get on with your life 💐

I am grateful for:-
- the 57 wonderful years I enjoyed with my now late husband, and I am glad that we truly did appreciate them at the time, and we both made sure the other knew that.
- my two lovely daughters, one who rings and the other who calls in regularly to make sure I’m ok. I have various health issues which are, at present, controlled by injections etc but am still able to have a full life without help. That said, I do appreciate that they are there if I need anything
- my two sons-in-law who do any odd jobs I need doing
- my grandchildren who are in regular touch, either on-line or in person.
- my great-grandson. I didn’t know I had any love left, loving my family so much. Then he came along (17 years after the last baby in the family) and I absolutely adore him. He is five months old now and his smile when he sees me, and his little arms outstretched for a cuddle with me melt my heart.
- threads like this where we can all chat about nice things freely and (mostly) without criticism.

I was on a very early shift and literally running to work as I was late. There was a large purse in the middle of the pavement that someone must have dropped the day before so I picked it up and put it in my bag with the intention of doing something about it later and getting it returned to whoever had dropped it.

It was a really busy demanding shift with no meal breaks and I am ashamed to say that I had forgotten about the purse until I found it in my bag on my way home.

I opened the purse and found that inside there was a card with the name and address of the owner on it. It was a bit of a detour but I felt duty bound to return it. I walked round to the house, rang the bell and the owner of the purse came to the door. Throughout my explanation as to what had happened she stared at me coldly. Then she shouted at me for not returning the purse earlier as she had, understandably, been worried all day. I tried to explain and apologise but she cut me short and demanded that I waited while she counted the money in the purse to make sure I hadn't stolen any of it. Needless to say I hadn't so I didn't wait while she did the count and made a hasty retreat while she shouted at me to come back.

I felt really awful about the whole situation but I failed to see how I could have done anything different. I rang a very good friend and they re-assured me that I had done nothing wrong and reminded me that virtue is its own reward. I didn't feel very virtuous but I felt a lot better after talking it through with my kind friend who was able to make me see the incident in its proper perspective.

I am grateful to my DH driving me to the pharmacy today for my tablets. It's a Day Lewis one so you can use the collection point outside.

Also it's a beautiful sunny day, the orchid in our living room looks wonderful, and I am looking forward to our granddaughter coming on Wednesday after school.

It means a lot to me that she says she's on her way 'home' even though she doesn't live with us.

Thank you for starting this lovely thread Applegran.

How do I join? Is it just by contributing on here, or is there something else? If it’s the former, I’m already in!

Crossstitchfan - please join! This is the thread itself. I loved your story of honesty and the warm and kind response of the woman you helped.

Conscience Typo

Similar story but many years ago I was on a bus with dh and two small children in amalfi Italy. We had saved hard for the short break as money was tight.
We sat down and there was a wallet stuffed full of lira on the seat. Not speaking Italian, or knowing the area, we gave it to the bus driver as we got off the bus.
I really hope he handed it in, but if he didn’t, it’s on his conscious and not mine , and yes like crosstich, thinking about it, I still feel good, but was taken aback that a few people I knew at the time said the driver would have taken the money so they would not have handed the wallet in.
I don’t know what the driver did but hope he did the honest thing, the pleasure of helping someone was worth far more than the many lira in that wallet.

I would love to join a kindness and happiness thread! Are you thinking of starting one?

My experience of being kind was a long time ago. I was walking in Maidstone town centre. A woman came rushing towards me and as she whizzed by, her purse fell to the ground. I picked it up and retraced my steps to try to find her, but couldn’t as there were many shops and she could have gone into any of them, or none. I opened the purse (which contained £70, a lot of money in the 90s), in case her address was in there, but it wasn’t. Being unfamiliar with the town, I asked someone where the Police station was and went there to hand it in. Surprisingly, it wasn’t in the town centre and I had a long walk.
The next day, a lovely bouquet of flowers arrived, with a heartfelt thank you from the owner of the purse. She had been rushing to buy Christmas presents for her children and if she hadn’t got the money back, there was no way she could have afforded to replace it. She said it would have been a dreadful Christmas, especially as her husband had fairly recently died. You couldn’t make it up, could you? The glow I felt from bringing her such happiness lasted for weeks. In fact, thinking about it now, all these years later, I still feel good.

I am finding my eyes are misting over too and am moved and so grateful for the kindnesses from GN members. I hope people who have already posted will maybe begin making it a habit to add even very small things you are grateful for - to keep this thread of gratitude and loving kindness alive for us all. Today I am simply grateful for this thread.

Thank you to the good souls on here who would give me a hug if they could.

It’s another reason to be grateful - the genuine kindness of strangers. Or as I like to think of GN - ‘virtual friends’. We can be quite a supportive community when situations call for it. It helps take away loneliness, to feel connected somehow?

Much appreciated. x

FGT's post about receiving a hug reminded me of the occasion I went to the pharmacy to collect a prescription for end of life medication for my DM. The staff knew me as I had been regularly collecting mum's prescriptions for a few years. On this occasion the lovely pharmacist took me into a consultation room to give me the pack and gave me a much needed and welcome hug at the same time. 11 years on and my eyes are misting over at the memory.

B9exchange. What an achievement, something normal to most of us but an huge achievement for your dh. Hope his recovery continues.

What a lovely thread. Thank you

I am grateful that we have nearly finished completing our power of attourney. Just two more signatures, in the right order, posting the package and once we hear it’s been accepted I will put it away until we need it.
I am also grateful that we can enjoy this pleasant weather while watching the trees turn to their autumn glory.

Magenta8

FGT With all you are going through, I would hug you for real if I could. Here's a virtual hug ( ).

Me too, so please accept a hug from me 🫶

Parsley3

I am grateful that my little granddaughter has, this week, successfully come through an op for a burst appendix. She was so ill but thanks to the care she has received she is making a good recovery. The weather has been so lovely today and we could all enjoy it knowing that all will be well.

As a grandparent myself, I know you must have been out of your mind with worry and helplessness. I am so pleased that your little precious one is recovering well and hope everything goes well for her as she grows. 🙏💐

FGT With all you are going through, I would hug you for real if I could. Here's a virtual hug ( ).

Last Monday I got wonderful NHS hearing aids. I am truly grateful. I can understand Radio4 and DS, who speaks in a fast mumble, without having to struggle.

Thank you Magenta. We feel blessed.

And sending warm thoughts to B9exchange and FGT and all going through challenging times and sharing gratitude here

FriedGreenTomatoes I am thinking of you and so glad you got a hug. I would love to give you a hug too. It is good you can find gratitude for kindness in the midst of what you are facing. As you say, life is indeed precious - you remind me to be grateful for still being here..